Spectroscopic investigation of hydrogen bond network stability and microplastic leaching in ethanol-based potentised medicines at extreme dilutions during prolonged plastic storage

IF 4.6 2区化学 Q1 SPECTROSCOPY

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy Pub Date : 2025-06-25 DOI:10.1016/j.saa.2025.126615

Subhadip Chakraborty , Kaustav Ghosh , Sayan Biswas , Chirasree Roy Chaudhuri , Amit Roy Chowdhury , Rathin Chakravarty , Debadatta Nayak , Subhash Kaushik , Ananya Barui , Sharbadeb Kundu

{"title":"Spectroscopic investigation of hydrogen bond network stability and microplastic leaching in ethanol-based potentised medicines at extreme dilutions during prolonged plastic storage","authors":"Subhadip Chakraborty , Kaustav Ghosh , Sayan Biswas , Chirasree Roy Chaudhuri , Amit Roy Chowdhury , Rathin Chakravarty , Debadatta Nayak , Subhash Kaushik , Ananya Barui , Sharbadeb Kundu","doi":"10.1016/j.saa.2025.126615","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The quality and efficacy of pharmaceutical products stored under proper conditions are critical. This study examined the effects of long-term plastic storage on extremely diluted ethanol-based potentised (EP) medicines using advanced spectroscopic techniques. Four medicines, <em>Arnica montana</em>, <em>Rhus toxicodendron</em>, <em>Conium maculatum</em>, and <em>Belladonna</em>, at ultra-high (200C, 1 M) and moderate-high (30C, 200C) potencies, were stored in glass and plastic containers for one month. Post-storage, antioxidant activity (DPPH assay), pH, and spectroscopic analyses (ATR-FTIR, Raman and DLS) were conducted. Glass-stored medicines showed increased antioxidant activity and zeta potential with higher potency, while plastic-stored samples showed a decreasing trend. Conductivity was inversely correlated with zeta potential, with glass-stored medicines showing a ∼ 41.91 % reduction, while plastic-stored samples showed a ∼ 36.29 % increase. Mid-IR spectra revealed a blue shift (∼4–14 cm<sup>−1</sup>) in O–H stretching and a red shift (∼2–3 cm<sup>−1</sup>) in H–O–H bending for glass-stored medicines, showing weaker inter-molecular H-bonds at higher potencies. In contrast, plastic-stored medicines showed opposite shifts (∼2–17 cm<sup>−1</sup>), implying more constrained H-bonding due to carbonyl-water interaction in presence of microplastics, disrupting the native ethanol-water H-Bond network. Far-IR spectra showed an enthalpic gain (∼45.34 %) in glass-stored medicines, while plastic-stored samples showed an enthalpic loss (∼56.60 %), confirming structural destabilisation of native water-network due to microplastic leaching. Our findings show that plastic containers compromised the efficacy of studied medicines by altering H-bond network stability and electrical properties. Further studies on different plastic grades and storage durations are needed to validate these findings and explore cost-effective alternatives for long-term storage of such medicines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":433,"journal":{"name":"Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 126615"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386142525009229","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SPECTROSCOPY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The quality and efficacy of pharmaceutical products stored under proper conditions are critical. This study examined the effects of long-term plastic storage on extremely diluted ethanol-based potentised (EP) medicines using advanced spectroscopic techniques. Four medicines, Arnica montana, Rhus toxicodendron, Conium maculatum, and Belladonna, at ultra-high (200C, 1 M) and moderate-high (30C, 200C) potencies, were stored in glass and plastic containers for one month. Post-storage, antioxidant activity (DPPH assay), pH, and spectroscopic analyses (ATR-FTIR, Raman and DLS) were conducted. Glass-stored medicines showed increased antioxidant activity and zeta potential with higher potency, while plastic-stored samples showed a decreasing trend. Conductivity was inversely correlated with zeta potential, with glass-stored medicines showing a ∼ 41.91 % reduction, while plastic-stored samples showed a ∼ 36.29 % increase. Mid-IR spectra revealed a blue shift (∼4–14 cm⁻¹) in O–H stretching and a red shift (∼2–3 cm⁻¹) in H–O–H bending for glass-stored medicines, showing weaker inter-molecular H-bonds at higher potencies. In contrast, plastic-stored medicines showed opposite shifts (∼2–17 cm⁻¹), implying more constrained H-bonding due to carbonyl-water interaction in presence of microplastics, disrupting the native ethanol-water H-Bond network. Far-IR spectra showed an enthalpic gain (∼45.34 %) in glass-stored medicines, while plastic-stored samples showed an enthalpic loss (∼56.60 %), confirming structural destabilisation of native water-network due to microplastic leaching. Our findings show that plastic containers compromised the efficacy of studied medicines by altering H-bond network stability and electrical properties. Further studies on different plastic grades and storage durations are needed to validate these findings and explore cost-effective alternatives for long-term storage of such medicines.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

在长期塑料储存过程中，乙醇基增强药物中氢键网络稳定性和微塑料浸出在极度稀释下的光谱研究

在适当条件下储存的药品的质量和功效是至关重要的。本研究利用先进的光谱技术研究了塑料长期储存对极稀释乙醇基增强（EP）药物的影响。将山金车（Arnica montana）、毒竹（Rhus toxicodendron）、黄斑锥（Conium maculatum）和颠茄（Belladonna）四种药物在超高效（200C, 1m）和中高效（30C, 200C）的玻璃和塑料容器中保存一个月。储存后进行抗氧化活性（DPPH）、pH和光谱分析（ATR-FTIR、拉曼光谱和DLS）。玻璃储存的药物抗氧化活性和zeta电位增加，效力更高，而塑料储存的样品呈下降趋势。电导率与zeta电位呈负相关，玻璃储存的药物电导率降低了~ 41.91%，而塑料储存的样品电导率增加了~ 36.29%。中红外光谱显示，玻璃储存的药物在O-H拉伸过程中出现蓝移（~ 4-14 cm−1），在H-O-H弯曲过程中出现红移（~ 2-3 cm−1），在较高的电位下显示出较弱的分子间氢键。相比之下，塑料储存的药物表现出相反的变化（~ 2-17 cm−1），这意味着由于微塑料存在羰基-水相互作用，氢键更受限制，破坏了天然乙醇-水氢键网络。远红外光谱显示在玻璃储存的药物中焓增加（~ 45.34%），而塑料储存的样品显示焓损失（~ 56.60%），证实了由于微塑料浸出导致天然水网的结构不稳定。我们的研究结果表明，塑料容器通过改变氢键网络的稳定性和电学性质，损害了所研究药物的功效。需要对不同塑料等级和储存时间进行进一步研究，以验证这些发现，并探索长期储存此类药物的成本效益替代方案。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 物理-光谱学

CiteScore

8.40

自引率

11.40%

发文量

1364

审稿时长

40 days

期刊介绍： Spectrochimica Acta, Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy (SAA) is an interdisciplinary journal which spans from basic to applied aspects of optical spectroscopy in chemistry, medicine, biology, and materials science. The journal publishes original scientific papers that feature high-quality spectroscopic data and analysis. From the broad range of optical spectroscopies, the emphasis is on electronic, vibrational or rotational spectra of molecules, rather than on spectroscopy based on magnetic moments. Criteria for publication in SAA are novelty, uniqueness, and outstanding quality. Routine applications of spectroscopic techniques and computational methods are not appropriate. Topics of particular interest of Spectrochimica Acta Part A include, but are not limited to: Spectroscopy and dynamics of bioanalytical, biomedical, environmental, and atmospheric sciences, Novel experimental techniques or instrumentation for molecular spectroscopy, Novel theoretical and computational methods, Novel applications in photochemistry and photobiology, Novel interpretational approaches as well as advances in data analysis based on electronic or vibrational spectroscopy.